LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL REVIEWS FESTIVAL THEATRE
WAITING FOR STANLEY Keep calm and carry on clowning ●●●●● RUBIES IN THE ATTIC Inspired and uplifting cabaret-style show ●●●●●
A woman with a red clown nose waits on a luggage- filled railway platform for her wartime sweetie to return. As her wait grows, she raids the suitcases around her, each contributing props to a captivat- ing series of tales drawn from the experiences of London women during WWII: being a mother, wait- ing out the Blitz, and making do and mending. Leela Bruce is the architect of this captivating one-woman performance, opening each box of tricks to reveal a world rich in imagination. Never has a pile of socks had such an illustrious career in metaphor. She turns an abundance of tenderly manipulated puppets, lighting effects, sound cues and other trickery into an affecting narrative that teeters between all-out comedy and heart-rending tragedy, with a few songs from the era thrown in for good measure.
Like the way in which her wide-leg trousers, khaki jumper and two-tone brogues work to convey both 1940s landgirl style and traditional clown- ing costumes, Bruce’s biggest achievement is her balancing act and via her inventive stagecraft and charismatic persona she revitalises national wartime myths. Not bad for a clown. (Suzanne Black) ■ Assembly Roxy, 623 3030, until 26 Aug, 3.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10).
Ancestry, lineage and belonging form the basis of The Ruby Dolls’ Rubies in the Attic, an invigorating and fun piece of theatre. Comprised of music, close harmony singing, puppetry and physical theatre, this show uses each Doll’s family history to chart the triumphs and tribulations of those that came before them. Taking in various countries, including South Africa, Russia, France and the UK, Rubies in the Attic uses props, music and song to create another time and another world; a world in which the Dolls’ ancestors make a number of decisions that will ultimately cre- ate The Ruby Dolls and their shared future.
A cabaret-inspired frolic through recent history, this show is a fun-filled and colourful exploration of sacrifice, dreams and determination. The Ruby Dolls’ close harmony singing and talent for puppetry, mime and performance reveals a mutual respect for their past, and a sense of unity that other similar cabaret-style productions often struggle to portray. An absolute joy and treat for the senses, Rubies in the Attic is a unique, inspired and altogether uplifting piece of new theatre. (Amy Taylor) ■ Assembly Roxy, 623 3030, until 27 Aug, 6.30pm, £12–£13 (£10–£11).
SONGS OF LEAR A sublime version of the Bard’s tragedy, in its purest form ●●●●●
Imagine King Lear in pill form, the Shakespearean equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum. Or contained in a single firework. What about Lear: the new fragrance from Christian Dior? Baffling as this all sounds, it’s pretty much what revered Polish company Song of the Goat does
with the play. By translating it into a choral song cycle, they give us a non-natural version of the play – ineffable as opposed to Brechtian – in which Shakespeare’s plot is all but obliterated. Instead, it’s distilled to its tonal properties. A ten-strong choir – five men, five women – harmonise
through ten songs by Jean-Claude Acquaviva and Maciej Rychly. Each is born out of a segment of the play, without fully dramatising it: ‘pictures through sound,’ as director Grzegorz Bral explains. The first, ‘In Paradiso’, is a hymn conjuring England’s hills and sun through stained glass windows, but others grow dark and discordant, as Lear’s brain frazzles and his kingdom splits. After each song, Bral steps forward to contextualise the next.
Gradually, out of a recital, a thin layer of drama emerges. Cordelia sits in a chamber weeping through puberty. Gabriel Gawin’s Lear examines his daughter as one might a racehorse. Later, he surveys his fractured land like a man stood over an open grave.
But it is the music – or rather the sensation of it – that really gets to you. Walls of vibrato and sharp throaty wails surge through the room and, bit by bit, without you really knowing how, it takes you over.
This is essence of Lear, desiccated and condensed; sensed rather than watched and absorbed until it hasn’t just got under your skin, but right into your bone marrow. For the half hour that followed, I was static electricity, too knock-kneed to stand. It is a full-body detox; catharsis pure and simple and transcendent.
In a Fringe chock-full of profanity, Songs of Lear is something sacred. (Matt Trueman)
■ Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, until 25 Aug, 7.15pm, £11 (£9).
THE SHIT / LA MERDA Howl of human emotion makes for unforgettable theatre ●●●●●
Raw, touching, intelligent and mesmerising, Cristian Ceresoli’s The Shit is an unforgettable piece of thea- tre that reveals our universal inner thoughts, fears, desires and memory with almost frightening accura- cy. Comprised of a powerful and unforgettable mon- ologue by Silvia Gallerano, who delivers her intense speech while naked in the centre of Summerhall’s Demonstration Room, this piece is not as much a one-person rant, as it is an unbridled howl to the heavens. A howl that carries and resonates around the room, as Gallerano touches upon subjects such as bulimia, self worth, self-hatred and death. Stripping back – both literally and figuratively – the fears, wants and experiences that make us human, The Shit moves between almost murderous rage and child-like excitement to heartbreak and self doubt in an instant. Dedicated to the 150th anniver- sary of Italy’s unification, Ceresoli’s biting satirical script is perfectly matched with Gallerano’s sparkling energy bravery and strength. Brash, brutal, beastly, yet beautiful, The Shit is a near-perfect recreation of humanity at its most powerful, most desperate, most vulnerable and most cutting. (Amy Taylor) ■ Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, until 26 Aug, 9.15pm, £10 (£8).
23 Aug–20 Sep 2012 THE LIST 131